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Once upon a time I played tournament paintball at a decent level for a little while. The speedball and X-ball variety. Getting “bunkered” like the Dallas officer was commonplace, and the first thing that came to mind when I watched the video. Just like bubba and the MILES gear, paintball or more realistic training can sometimes instill bad habits and that must always be kept in mind. Yet instinctive shooting, use of limited cover(hug it or die), moving explosively, checking your angles, and fire and maneuver became reflex. Sometimes backing from cover a bit can open your view of the field and sometimes it can’t get big or close enough.

Taking SI classes a few years later started to make everything click. Great article, Shawn. Thank you. No absolutes, staying flexible and pragmatic with what’s presented to you in the moment fits perfectly in the SI “Way of the Gunfight”.

Lots of good points in the replies. Surreal001, I included a video of the drill depicted in the picture that you referenced. My teaching points that day were working in close confines, working selectors when not on target, dealing with a stoppage, etc. Basically a recap of what we had worked on that day. Burning up the quads helps keep it interesting.

Once upon a time I played tournament paintball at a decent level for a little while. The speedball and X-ball variety. Getting “bunkered” like the Dallas officer was commonplace, and the first thing that came to mind when I watched the video. Just like bubba and the MILES gear, paintball or more realistic training can sometimes instill bad habits and that must always be kept in mind. Yet instinctive shooting, use of limited cover(hug it or die), moving explosively, checking your angles, and fire and maneuver became reflex. Sometimes backing from cover a bit can open your view of the field and sometimes it can’t get big or close enough.

Taking SI classes a few years later started to make everything click. Great article, Shawn. Thank you. No absolutes, staying flexible and pragmatic with what’s presented to you in the moment fits perfectly in the SI “Way of the Gunfight”.

I've been playing since 98.

Speedball is a game of angles and aggression / initiative, for sure.

The further an opponent moves off of your 12 and closer to your 3 or 9, the closer you have to hug your cover (said differently, the greater the angle your opponent has on you, the less cover you have).

Watch a game of pro speedball and you will see back players generally further from their bunkers and front players generally getting more intimate with their cover than I get with my wife :-)